May Your Future Be Terrible
by DiscordianSamba
Summary: AUish. After Lovely and Princess manage to gain a powerful combination attack, Hoshiiwa returns to Queen Mirage in shame. However, ever since the day she first fought against the two Precure, a plan has been hatching in the back of her mind- one that would surely shatter the Precure's beliefs in love and friendship.
1. May Your Future Be Terrible

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Well, if you're wondering why there's four chapters of this appearing at once, it's because three of them already appeared in my Precure oneshot collection, _Cure Shots_. After realizing that I was already on part four I thought it might be wise to go ahead and make this it's own proper story. That's pretty sensible, right?

So anyways, this story was prompted to me at first by a friend of mine on tumblr, Jikochuu, who wanted either Seiji or Megumi defecting to the evil side for some reason. I chose Seiji and then I just sort of... ran with it. Since this prompt was sent in before Yuko debuted as Cure Honey, the story reflects that at first, although she's joined them by the second chapter. Fortune might appear later on in the story, but for now it's just the initial three characters.

This happens immediately after the episode in which Princess and Lovely's pair attack debuts.

* * *

**May Your Future Be Terrible**

* * *

"I'm disappointed."

Hoshiiwa couldn't help but flinch at the sound of Queen Mirage's voice. She did not raise it, not speak in an especially sharp tone- but it was quite clear to her that her queen was angry.

Closing her fan, Queen Mirage looked down at her kneeling servant, casting assessing eyes on her. "Your efforts so far have been useless, Hoshiiwa. If anything, the Precure's love is growing even stronger. If I recall, wasn't it you who allowed the Precure to obtain stronger power?"

"That was a an unexpected result, my queen." Hoshiiwa said, not glancing up quite yet. "I promise you that the likes of which will not happen again."

"Is that so?" Queen Mirage asked, not looking entirely convinced. "Then, I'm assuming that you have some sort of plan?"

"I do." Hoshiiwa said, looking up. "The Precure draw their power from friendship and love- all those foolish, fake things. Then, shouldn't we just crush them? If we shatter their belief in those lies, they won't be able to do anything anymore. They'll be powerless."

"That's true." Queen Mirage admitted, closing her eyes and leaning back against her couch. "Do you intend to break the bonds between them, then?"

"No." Shaking her head, a sly look appearing on her face. "I have a much better idea, my Queen. If only you'll hear me out."

"Oh?" Queen Mirage leaned forward, a spark of interest appearing in her eyes. "I'm listening, Hoshiiwa. Don't disappoint me."

* * *

As usual, the park around that time of morning was almost empty. It had been warming up more lately though, which made his morning runs a bit more pleasant. Spring was already in full swing, although the cold weather had lingered a little longer than Seiji had really cared for. Of course, it wasn't the sort of thing he complained about, but if he had to pick, he liked the warmer months a little better.

Although come to think of it, wasn't it a little too quiet this morning? Frowning a little, Seiji jogged onwards, glancing about his surroundings. Fog again- it had been foggy when he had gotten caught up in that Sairak attack as well, he remembered. Well, it wasn't like it was something that had gained an ominous feelings- mornings were always foggy around this time. Rather, the Sairak attacking had_ cleared up_ the fog.

Well, even with their setback with Oresky, Megumi and Hime had been doing very well at fighting the Sairaks- and if they had troubled, then there was two other Precure running around as well. Well, as their friend, he couldn't help but worry about them- but when it came to fighting, what he could do was limited. He could help out against the Choiarks, somewhat, but against the Sairaks... well, somehow Seiji didn't think any amount of karate training would really help him there.

"It really is quiet this morning." Seiji's frown deepened, and he slowed down, beginning to run in place for a moment before stopping, glancing around. Somehow, something about the quiet felt manufactured- it put him ill at ease. Even if it was just his imagination, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to just give Megumi a call.

Of course, he quickly realized that he hadn't brought his Cure Line with him- there was nowhere to put it in his karate uniform, after all.

"It seems that we have a little lost boy here."

He knew that voice. That woman who had delighted in it as she watched Chiro and his owner get hurt- doing something like was unforgivable. Narrowing his eyes, Seiji took a small step back, as Hoshiiwa seemed to manifest almost from the fog itself.

"I remember you." Hoshiiwa said, ill thoughts glittering in her eyes. "That pink Precure was so upset when she saw you hurt, wasn't she?"

"Of course. After all, it's a Precure's duty to protect everyone. It's only natural that she would be upset when someone was suffering." Seiji said, trying to downplay Hoshiiwa's insinuation- she had come after him for a reason, hadn't she? It was possible that she was going to use him to create a Saiark- as if he would let that happen.

"No, she was much more upset than usual." Hoshiiwa noted, disdain clear in her voice. "Of course, she's a violent brute of a woman to begin with."

Ah well, Seiji couldn't quite deny that. Megumi _did_ have a bit of a tendency to get somewhat violent when she was transformed into Lovely. "And?"

"You're someone important to her, aren't you?" Hoshiiwa asked. "I've been watching the two of you closely for awhile. You're both quite close. Such close bonds of friendship- even though the two of you are only deluding yourselves with it."

Seiji's eyes narrowed further, and he found himself subconsciously taking a step back. "What are you planning then?" He asked, almost vocalizing his thought that she was going to use him to make a Saiark out loud- but he stopped himself at the last moment. If she didn't have an idea, he sure as heck wasn't going to be dumb enough to give her one.

"I'm going to show the beloved friend of yours exactly why friendship is such a lie in the first place." Hoshiiwa said, closing her parasol, resting the tip of it on the ground in front of her. "I'm going to destroy her belief in love and friendship, so she can never hope to become a Precure again."

"Do you actually think I'll go along with that?" Seiji couldn't help but ask.

"You say that like you have a choice in the matter." Hoshiiwa said, reaching behind her back, and producing a glimmering shard of glass. "I've already promised Queen Mirage that I'll surely succeed this time. I can't possibly let her down again."

* * *

"_Sagara_!"

The sound of a voice caused his eyes to snap open, and Seiji blinked, for a moment his thoughts lost in a daze. Where exactly what was he? And who was...?

"Ah, Omori." Seiji said, placing a hand to his head. For reason he felt awfully lightheaded- and exactly what was he doing lying on the ground? "What happened?" He asked, frowning as he looked up at her deeply concerned expression.

"I don't know. I just found you lying on the ground, unconscious. Are you okay, Sagara?" She asked, concern evident in her voice. "You haven't been working yourself too hard, have you?"

"Ah, that might be it." Seiji frowned, his vision growing less blurry, and his memories a bit less foggy. He had been on his usual morning run when he had collapsed, hadn't he? From reason that explanation didn't sit quite right with him, but he couldn't think of anything else it could be. "Maybe I have been trying to push myself too much lately."

"You shouldn't do that." Yuko lightly scolded him. "Can you stand? I'll help you back to your apartment. Unless you want to go to the hosptial?"

"I think I can get up by myself, at least." Seiji said, pushing himself to his feet. He stumbled a little as he did so- but he did remain upright. "Sorry, Omori. I must have given you a scare. But I don't think I quite need to go to the hosptial, not just yet."

"Don't worry about it." Yuko shook her head. "And if that's how you feel, that's fine. I won't push you. Why don't you take it easy for the rest of the day? I know your training is important to you, but..."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Seiji nodded his head. "I've got to watch my own limits. I still can't believe I would just collapse like that though. That's kind of almost embarrassing." He laughed, scratching his cheek. "Is there any chance you wouldn't tell Megumi about this?"

The last thing he wanted was to have her butting into his business again.

Eh? Seiji blinked a little, his hand straying towards his head again, although this time not because he was woozy. Was that actually something he would think? It was true that Megumi could sometimes be a little too forceful- but she always meant well, and it wasn't like he ever found her annoying, or anything like that. She was his best friend, after all, practically a second sister.

He winced then, a spike of pain shooting through his chest, and he found himself grasping at it tightly. What was that...?

"Sagara!" Yuko's voice came out, clearly alarmed. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she looked at him with concern. "Are you really alright? Are you in pain?"

"Ah, just a bit... I think you're right, I have been straining myself lately." Seiji frowned, the throb of pain subsiding. "I think I'll take a good rest when I get back. Could you help me, Omori?"

"Yes." She nodded her head, not looking entirely convinced that a good nap would clear it up. "Are you sure you don't want to go to a doctor?"

"I'm sure." Seiji assured her. "I'll go to one if it gets any worse. Promise."

"Well, okay..." There was obvious hesitation in her voice, almost as if she wanted to insist. "But only if you promise." Yuko frowned, clearly not pleased with this- but it wasn't exactly like she could force him. Dragging a hungry person around was one thing, but that wasn't something you did to someone who was sick! Besides, Seiji usually took pretty good care of his body, he would know better than anyone if he really needed to go to the hosptial, right?

"I do. Don't worry." Seiji assured her again. He would be just fine after some rest, wouldn't he? After all, the only reason he had collapsed was because he had been pushing himself too hard lately, wasn't it? That sounded right.

And yet- there was something about that explanation still didn't sit well with him, almost as if he was forgetting something important.

But there was no way that could be, right?


	2. It's Already Too Late

Author's Notes: And the second chapter that appeared first in _Cure Shots_!

* * *

**It's Already Too Late**

* * *

"Seiji! Oi, Seiji!"

Brown eyes snapped into alertness as their owner turned to look towards the person who had been calling him- and for some time, it looked like, given the annoyed expression on Megumi's face. "Sorry, Megumi. I completely spaced out there for a second. What is it?"

"You're doing that all the time recently. When did you become an airhead?" Megumi sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Are you having trouble sleeping or something?"

"Mm, I don't think so." Seiji frowned, considering the question. True, it hadn't been that long since he had suddenly collapsed on his morning run- only two weeks, but after that there hadn't been any signs of anything being wrong with his body. If anything, he felt better than ever. Blinking a little, he peered over at Megumi. "What about you though? You're sporting some serious bags under your eyes. Omori too, now that I think about it."

"That's just it, Seiji!" Megumi whined, spreading herself across the table, closing her eyes a little. "Listen to this! Lately there's been Sairaks appearing in the middle of the night! For the past four days, at that! I'm starting to get a little tired of it, it's seriously cutting into my sleep."

"Eh, is that right?" Seiji blinked, his frown deepening as he quickly realized something important. "Wait, why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" He said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I thought we were going to discuss your Precure business properly with each other."

"Ah, that's..." Megumi hesitated for a moment, before biting down on her lip. She didn't really know the reason either- it wasn't like her to not be honest with Seiji. The one time she had tried to lie to him, she had blown it right away. But lately, for some reason there was something about her childhood friend that just... made her hesitate. She couldn't put her finger on it, and she didn't like that.

"Nevermind." Seiji heaved a sigh, giving her a look. She was obviously trying to keep something from him, and he didn't feel right about pressing her about it. "I guess it's not something that you can talk to me about, is it?"

"It's not like that!" Megumi said quickly, sitting straight up. "I'm not trying keep anything from you!"

"Don't lie." Seiji said, peering at her with one eye. "I can read you like a book, Megumi. I don't mind if there's things you can't talk to me about, but at least don't lie about them. You know I'm worried about you, right?"

_Even though you can be such a pain._

Seiji flinched for a moment, feeling repulsed at the sudden thought. That wasn't right! Megumi could get ahead of herself sometimes, but it wasn't like she was a pain or anything like that. He wouldn't be friends with her if that was the case.

"Seiji?" Megumi frowned, her expression turning somewhat serious. Leaning across the table, she peered at her childhood friend, concern in her eyes. "Are you really alright? Your color doesn't look so good."

"Do you think so?" Seiji frowned, snapping out of it, the thought once again drifting away from his mind. "I think I feel just fine though."

"Are you sure?" Megumi said, not sounding very convinced. His expression had completely changed for just a second- more than enough to worry her, adding to the niggling pile of doubts that was forming in her stomach.

It was true that there was something strange about Seiji lately- it wasn't anything that Hime had noticed, she thought, and she hadn't talked about it to her either yet. She had barely breached the subject with Yuko- who looked like there had been something on her mind at the time. But they hadn't gotten very far into the discussion, and instead had been interrupted by another Saiark's appearance.

She wasn't trying to keep her worries to herself, exactly- it was just that she had known Seiji for forever, and she didn't want to start talking about her concerns with someone else before she had a chance to properly talk to him about them.

"I'm fine." Seiji insisted, giving her a small smile. "But thanks for your concern- especially when I should be more concerned about you, Megumi. Are you really going to be alright with all of these late night Saiark attacks?"

"It'll work out somehow." Megumi said, smiling a little and sitting back down. Well, at the same time, she didn't want Seiji to be worried about her either. "But Hime's pretty amazing. I have trouble falling back asleep after fighting them off, but apparently she drifts off right away when she gets back home."

"Speaking of the Hime's house though, you haven't been coming by the Blue Sky Embassy lately." Megumi ventured. That was one of the things that had been bothering her lately. Seiji used to come with them to hang out after school and during the weekends when he didn't have practice- but since two weeks ago, he hadn't been coming.

"Ah, sorry. Lately I've been a bit busy." Seiji apologized quickly, almost feeling the lie rolling off of his tongue. It wasn't true- he hadn't been busy at all lately, he had just been avoiding the place.

That was weird... why hadn't he realized that up until now? And why had he just lied so easily to Megumi about it?

"If that's all..." Megumi said, frowning a little as she laid her head down against the table again. "Yuko's taking a long time with the food, I'm hungry~."

"It's only been five minutes, if that. I think your stomach is distorting your sense of time." Seiji said, the previous worry slipping from his mind again. "They can only prepare the food so fast. But more about these Saiarks though- who's sending them out? If it's in the middle of the night, I can't imagine it's Namakelder..."

"Ah, that's another thing." Megumi said, putting up a finger as she glanced up at Seiji. She hesitated for a moment- somehow she felt as if she told him about this, she would be crossing some sort of line that shouldn't have been crossed. But that was ridiculous wasn't it?

"We don't really know." Megumi said, heaving a sigh. "The Saiarks just appear all by themselves. Ah, but Yuko said she thought she saw someone last night!" She perked up a little- and then just as quickly deflated. "But they were too far away for her to get a good look. Maybe the Phantom Empire had another general? I don't think Hoshiiwa or Oresky would hide themselves..."

"That's true." Seiji nodded his head, leaning back in his chair in thought. "That's strange though. The Phantom Empire isn't exactly known for sneaking around."

"Right?" Megumi said, pushing herself back up into an upright position. "I was wondering about that too. Hime and Yuko both seem to think it's strange as well!"

But speaking of strange things... she realized that he kept redirecting her away from the conversation that she _really_ wanted to have. Well, she didn't think that Seiji was doing it on purpose, but it was starting to get on her nerves a little!

"But more importantly, are you sure you're feeling alright, Seiji? The more I look at it, the more you really do seem pretty pale today. You're not coming down with something, are you?" Megumi asked, locking eyes briefly with her friend.

"No, I don't think so." Seiji frowned- for some reason, her eye contact made him slightly uncomfortable, and he forced himself to look away. "I don't feel any different than usual."

"Mm, I'm still worried though." Megumi said, standing up so that she could lean over the table, and placed a hand on Seiji's forehead. She had expected it to be a little warm, but-

"You're _freezing_!" She blurted out, pulling back her hand in mild alarm. "Like, seriously cold! You're not fine at all!"

"Eh? I am?" Seiji blinked, more than a little startled by this information. It was true that Megumi's hand had been unusually warm on his forehead... but he didn't feel cold or anything. "Are you sure?" He asked with a frown, placing a hand on his forehead. "I don't really feel any different from usual."

"No, you're definitely really cold! That can't be good! We need get you checked out by a doctors, quickly!" Megumi insisted, reaching over to grab his hand, as if intending to take him by force if necessary.

That was obviously not the right move.

"I said I'm fine!" He snapped suddenly, slapping her hand away. The sound rang sharply through the air, causing the surrounding conversation to halt. For the moment, all eyes were on the two of them, and they both quickly became aware of it.

"S-sorry, Megumi." Seiji apologized quickly, staring down at his own hand in confusion. Why had he done something like that? She was just worried about him! "Maybe you're right. I think I might be a little sick."

"No, it's fine." Megumi said after a moment, holding her hand lightly. It was still stinging honestly- sometimes she forgot that Seiji was pretty strong in his own right. But for him to do something like that was completely out of character for him- and the niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach grew, heading in a direction that she didn't like.

"No..." She trailed off for a moment, wondering if she should even say it. Most of the attention they had garnered earlier had already waned, and the conversation around them was starting back up again. "It's actually not okay, Seiji. Something's been off about you lately."

"Well, apparently I'm not really feeling well." Seiji said- and even _he_ felt that his response came a little too quickly.

"No, that's not it." Megumi shook her head, a decidedly serious expression on her face. "You've been acting weird lately, but I don't think you've even noticed. You haven't been coming by the embassy lately, you space out all the time... not to mention, in your last match, you were way too violent no matter how you look at it! That's not like you!"

"Sorry, Megumi, I don't really know what you're talking about." Seiji said. "Like I said, I haven't been over to the embassy lately because I've been busy, and I've probably been spacing out because I'm not well..." He trailed off, feeling the dull throb of something inside of his chest.

"And your match?!" Megumi insisted. "What about your match, Seiji? If that match hadn't been stopped then..."

"The match?" Seiji blinked rapidly, feeling the throbbing in his chest increase. "That was..." He trailed off, searching for some kind of reason, and coming up empty. Why was that? What happened on that day anyways? He hadn't thought about it all, but now that she brought it up, he couldn't believe that he hadn't even thought about that match until now. And she was right, he had been completely out of line no matter how he looked at it. If that match hadn't before then, it possible that something terrible could have happened.

No, it wasn't just _possible_, it was an _absolute guarantee_.

"And then lately, Mao-chan says you've been..." Megumi trailed off, almost as if she didn't want to say it. Swallowing back her fear, she forced herself to get the words out. "Scary. She says you've been kind of scary lately."

Megumi's words were like a huge shock to him. Mao had been scared of him? When? Why hadn't he noticed?

Actually, come to think of it... hadn't something been weird about him lately after all?

"Megumi, I-" He began- but he was cut off, the sounds of screams filling the air. In the distance, they could both see a Saiark appear, and sweets beginning to pile up, forming candy mountains.

Glancing towards the Saiark and then back at Seiji, Megumi opened her mouth- she had a mission as a Precure to go fight it, but right now was kind of a bad time! After all, if she left now...

"Go on." Seiji said after a moment, biting his lip in an attempt to conceal that the throbbing sensation in his chest had gotten much more painful. "That's your job right?"

Nodding her head, Megumi tightly gripped the Kururin Mirror located safely inside of her vest's pocket. "I'll be right back!" She said, trying to force back the feeling of anxiety inside of her.

"Yeah." Seiji nodded his head, watching as Megumi hesitated for perhaps the first time since becoming a Precure to run into battle.

After all, she had a feeling that if she left now- he wouldn't be there anymore.


	3. An Honest Girl Told a Lie

Author's Note: Another chapter that first appeared in _Cure Shots_.

* * *

**A Honest Girl Told a Lie**

* * *

"So then, Aino Megumi-san, was it?" The officer glanced up at her from his clipboard, apparently reconfirming his information before he set it aside. "You're a close friend of Sagara Seiji's, correct?"

"Yes." Megumi nodded her head, feeling an unbelievable sense of tension hanging in the air of the conference room.

Together with Hime and Yuko, she had fought off one of Hoshiiwa's Saiarks, the one that had interrupted her important conversation with Seiji. Although she had hurried back to the bento shop alongside Yuko and Hime, when they had gotten there, the only thing they found was the Cure Line that Seiji had left behind.

It had been three days since then, and he hadn't returned home.

There had already been a buzz about it amongst her classmates, so when a police officer pulled her homeroom teacher out of class, Megumi pretty knew what was coming next. After all, Seiji's mother was so worried about her son- this wasn't like him at all, to completely disappear without warning. So when her teacher had come back into the room, and informed Megumi, Hime, and Yuko, that they needed to speak with someone regarding Seiji, she had already been gathering her books.

"We're childhood friends." Megumi finished finally, glancing slightly up at the police officer, giving him a half-hearted smile. "Like siblings."

"I see." The officer said. "Well, I'm sure that you're aware that Sagara Seiji hasn't returned home for the past three days. His mother filed a missing persons report with us this morning."

"I know." Megumi nodded her head again, feeling a lump forming in her throat. "She's been really worried."

"I'm sure she has." The officer inclined his head. "Now then, we're just trying to get an impression of what might have happened on the day that he went missing. Of course, you're not suspected of anything." He flashed her a small smile. "But we do want to ask you some questions, just in case there's anything that you could tell us."

"Of course. I'll do anything to help." Megumi said, nodding her head, wondering how she was managing to keep her voice sounding so neutral. "I want to find him too."

"Very good. Then, I'll start off. From our understanding, it might very well be that you're the last person who saw him that day, Aino-san. Your information could prove to be very useful for us. We want to find him as much as anyone else." The officer assured her. "I'm sure word of a missing person is worrying and all, what with this Phantom Empire business, but we don't have any reason to believe that the two are related."

"Does that happen often?" Megumi asked suddenly, then blinked. "I mean, people blaming other crimes on the Phantom Empire."

"Quite a bit." The officer sighed a little, slumping his shoulders. He didn't want to tell this girl that there was already _another_ open missing persons case in Pikarigaoka, one that _did_ seem like it involved the Phantom Empire. Better not worry her like that. "Well, like I said, I don't believe it has anything to do with them."

"I see." Megumi nodded her head, unable to find it in herself to tell him that he was wrong. Seiji's disappearance had _everything_ to do with the Phantom Empire, she knew that. She had just wished she had realized something a little sooner.

Yuko had, after all. Why didn't she?

_"Megumi, I want you to stay calm and listen to me." Yuko's voice was stern as she placed her hands on the pink haired girl's shoulders. Megumi felt the cold case of Seiji's Cure Line pressing into her hands, where she was holding it in a vice grip, her knuckles white. "It's about Sagara."_

_"About Seiji?" Megumi blinked a little, meeting Yuko's eyes. "What do you mean, Yuko? You look so serious. More importantly, we have to hurry up and return his Cure Line to him. What if he runs into a Saiark or something?"_

"Now then, according to your mother, you met up with him on the afternoon of the day he went missing at the Omori Lunch Shop, correct?" He asked, glancing down at his clipboard. "You were supposed to meet two other friends there, a Omori Yuko, the daughter of the store owner, and a..." He paused, no doubt frowning at Hime's full name.

"Shirayuki Hime." Megumi finished for him. "That's what she usually goes by."

_"Megumi, please. I need you to listen to me seriously here." Yuko said, not yet releasing her friend from her grasp._

_"I will, don't worry. You don't need to cling to me so hard, Yuko. It kind of hurts." Megumi admitted, which finally caused Yuko to loosen her grip on the pink haired girl's shoulders. "Thank you. What's this about? Do you know, Hime?" She asked, glancing over at the blue haired girl, blinking a little when she briefly hesitated to meet her in the eyes._

_"Well that's..." Hime trailed off, clutching at the fabric of her skirt._

_"I can explain."_

"I see." The officer nodded his head again, seeming to make a note of that. "Now then, when you met up with Sagara-san, did you notice anything out of the ordinary about your surroundings? Anyone that looked to be following him, or anyone that seemed to have their eye on him?"

"No, not at all." Megumi shook her head, answering honestly. "It was a perfectly normal afternoon. It was a little rushed at the shop, so the bentos were taking a bit longer than normal, but I don't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary."

_"Blue?!" Megumi blinked rapidly, glancing around. It was more than a little strange to see Blue leaving the grounds of the Embassy. It must have been something important if he had come all the way out here. "What are you doing here?"_

_"Yuko called me here. There was something she wanted to confirm." He said, giving her a small smile. As usual, it seemed lined with a hint of sadness- but today's sadness seemed different than usual. "I think it might be best if you sat down, Megumi."_

_"Sure." She nodded her head, almost instinctively taking a seat on the bench, before looking back up at Blue. She wanted to ignore the twisted feeling in her gut, she wanted to pretend that she had no idea what this was about, she wanted to believe that she wasn't the last person who had truly noticed something was going wrong. "But what is it? Everyone seems so serious."_

_"I'm sorry, Megumi. This might as well be my fault." Blue apologized. "It's about Seiji."_

"I see." The officer said, scribbling something down again. "Now then, Aino-san, about Sagara-san himself... did anything seem strange or unusual about him that day?" He asked. "According to his mother, his behavior seemed to be somewhat off in the days preceding his disappearance, and it was something that she was concerned about. What is your impression of this, as his childhood friend?"

"Unusual?" Megumi blinked rapidly, feeling her words die out before they even reached her tongue. "Can you specify?"

"Let's see..." Flipping through his notes, the officer glanced through them, before looking back up towards Megumi. "According to his mother, it seemed like was spacing out more, generally seeming more distracted as a whole, and what was more worrisome to her was that he appeared to be growing somewhat more aggressive. There's was the issue of a karate match earlier in the week that had to be stopped due to an excessive use of force on Sagara-san's part... and it appears that she caught him leaving the apartment once, in the middle of the night."

_"About Seiji?" Megumi asked, already feeling her gut slowly sinking._

_"Yes." Blue nodded his head. "I thought something was a bit off when he wasn't coming with all of you to the Embassy anymore... especially after I heard from Yuko that she found him collapsed one morning. But I didn't think too much of it until the late night Saiark attacks began to happen..."_

_"Wait a moment!" Megumi shouted, her hands trembling a little, Seiji's Cure Line still tight in her grasp. She could almost feel the impressions of it biting into her skin, forming little red lines along the palms of her hands. "What do those have to do with Seiji?"_

_"Megumi." Yuko said, her voice gentle, but firm. "You already know, don't you?"_

"I see." Megumi said, glancing down at her feet. She hadn't known about his mother catching him sneaking out at night- maybe she just hadn't wanted to trouble them with that. But if anything, that just seemed to confirm things for her. "It's true that he was acting a bit oddly lately, but..."

Megumi looked back up at him, and for what might have been the first time in her life, she found herself truly telling a lie. "On that afternoon, everything seemed to be fine. He looked a bit underneath the weather, but there was nothing else."

_"Know what?" Megumi asked, hearing her own voice falter as she spoke._

_"It's alright, Megumi. We'll definitely think of something!" Hime reassured her. "After all, we're the Happiness Charge Precure, right? We can do anything, right?"_

_"She's right. There must be something we can do." Yuko added, placing a hand on Megumi's shoulder._

_"Megumi, I am truly sorry. If I had just refused to get him involved in the first place, something like this wouldn't have happened." Blue said, clasping his hands in front of him. "If there's anything in my power that I can do, I **swear** that I will do it."_

_"Why are you all acting like something horrible has happened?" Megumi's voice faltered again, and her grip on Seiji's Cure Line loosened._

_"Megumi." Blue said, concern evident in his voice. "I'm sorry. Most likely, Seiji has been taken by the Phantom Empire."_

"Under the weather?" The officer asked.

"Yes. His temperature wasn't very good." Megumi nodded her head. "But we weren't able to chat for very long. We were split up after the Phantom Empire attacked."

"And that's all?" The officer asked, scratching his head. He seemed to be under the impression that he would be able to obtain more information from her- but this was somewhat disappointing.

"Yes. That's all." Megumi nodded her head, once again finding herself telling another lie.

_"That..." Megumi trailed off, closing her eyes for a long moment, before she took a deep breath, facing her friends and Blue. "Then, do you mean...?"_

_"Yes." Yuko nodded her head. "I wasn't really sure of it until I talked to Blue about it, but without a doubt, the person who sent out the Saiark last night was most definitely Sagara. I'm sorry, Megumi, that I didn't bring it up with you earlier. I wanted to be sure."_

_"No, it's alright." Megumi shook her head, standing up, now only hold Seiji's Cure Line in only one of her hands. "If they're manipulating him somehow, the only thing we have to do is take him back."_

_"That's right!" Hime chimed in, nodding her head. "So, it'll be alright, Megumi! It will **definitely** be alright!"_

_"Thank you, Hime." Megumi smiled at her, before looking back down towards Blue. "There's no need to apologize. I'm sure Seiji would say the same thing. Besides, Seiji's my childhood friend. There's no way that I'll ever stand for someone manipulating him like this. I'll definitely get him back, one way or another."_

_"Even if you'll have to most likely fight him?" Blue asked, meeting her eyes._

_"Yes." Megumi nodded her head. "I can do it."_

"Then, we'll contact you if there's anything else." The officer said, getting to his feet. Megumi followed suit, picking up her bag. "Thank you for your time. We'll be sure to find him."

"Thank you. I'm sure you will." Megumi said, bowing slightly to the officer before leaving the room. Once outside, she let out a deep breath, her shoulders slumping slightly. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out Seiji's Cure Line, where she had been keeping it for safekeeping.

"See, I can properly fool people if I want to, Seiji."


	4. Definitely

Author's Note: So this is the first completley new chapter of this story that I'm uploading here! I decided that it would be best to make this it's own story, separate from Cure Shots, because uh.. it was getting a little long, partwise. I do think the story will still be told in short part chapters, as opposed to the longer chapters that appear in Sparkle Precure and Selfish Heart, though.

Please read and review!

* * *

**Definitely**

* * *

"She's been walking on air since three days ago." A rather disgruntled Namakelder found himself in such a situation that he was stuck venting his frustrations to Oresky, of all people. Normally his companion for these sorts of conversations was Hoshiiwa- but at the moment, she was occupied.

By being full of herself, mostly.

And that was normally Oresky's job.

"Hmph." Oresky frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest, looking rather displeased himself. "So what if she managed to bring one of the Precure's companions to our side. It's still not enough to beat out the accomplishments of the fantastic me!"

"Accomplishments like what, exactly?" It wasn't Hoshiiwa's sharp voice that startled the two men, so much as it was the loud tap of her parasol's head on the ground. Leaning on it slightly, she looked down at the two grown, gossiping men. "Queen Mirage is most pleased with what I've done. After all, it's something I took the initiative to do myself."

"Something as complicated as that is too much trouble." Namakelder said simply, frowning. "Why take such a long, roundabout route to corrupting the boy anyways? You could have just done it instantly."

"Slow burning corruption is more effective." Hoshiiwa said simply, closing her eyes. "Besides, not everyone is as unmotivated as you, Namakelder." She pointed out, peeking one of her eyes open. "I don't recall accomplishing Queen Mirage's goals to be a competition anyways~."

Of course, it was clear from her tone that she completely thought otherwise- and what's more, she thought she was winning.

"I wouldn't get so full of yourself just yet!" Oresky said, getting to his feet. "He hasn't even woken up yet! If it was me that Queen Mirage left this task too, it would have been done in a much quicker, much more efficiently, and above all, much more capable manner!"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure." Hoshiiwa simply nodded her head, letting out a loud yawn. "It will take some time for the power to settle in his body, that's all. Unless you think we should just send a normal human out into the battlefield?"

"Is that boy really a normal human to begin with?" Oresky couldn't help but ask. "He's really given our Choiarks a lot of trouble in the past."

"Now that you mention, he really doesn't pay too much attention to the laws of gravity, does he...?" Namakelder frowned.

"Well, it doesn't matter." Hoshiiwa said, smirking. "What matters is that this has definitely sent a blow to the Happiness Charge Precure already. Just imagine their faces when they have to face him on the battlefield! That's definitely something I want to see for myself, I'm sure their despair would make my cakes taste positively delicious~."

"I certainly can't argue with that." Namakelder observed, getting to his feet. "But aren't you afraid that it's going to make Cure Lovely angry? I recall exactly what happened the last time you got her worked up, after all."

"Hmph. It doesn't matter. No matter how angry she is, she's just another foolish Precure. There's no way that someone who tries to preach about such idiotic things like love and friendship would ever be able to attack someone they consider a friend." Hoshiiwa said, dismissing the notion entirely with a wave of her hand. "But the boy won't feel the same way. With the mirror shard in his heart, I doubt think he'll feel anything at all."

"Except loyalty to the Queen, I hope." Namakelder said lightly, as if reminding the girl.

"Of course. He'll be the Queen's new loyal servant." Hoshiiwa said, smiling. "The Happiness Charge Precure are as good as finished."

* * *

"Megumi, are you okay?"

The worry and concern in Hime's voice caused Megumi to look over towards her, her shoulders slumping slightly. "I'm fine." She said, giving the blue haired girl a small smile. "You don't have to worry so much about me, Hime. I'm not going to break down or anything."

"Even if you say that..." Hime trailed off, frowning a little, fiddling with the fabric of her skirt. The three of them were currently gathered at the Blue Sky embassy. Two days had passed since the police had come to interview them all, and of course, no new information had turned up about Seiji. "You have bags under your eyes."

Megumi blinked a little, before laughing a bit. "Ahh. I guess that's true." She admitted, rubbing one of them a little. "It's not like I'm finding it hard to sleep or anything, so don't worry about that! It's just..."

"You've been looking for clues?" Yuko asked.

"Yeah." She nodded her head, smiling up at her two fellow Precure. "I know that Seiji was taken by the Phantom Empire, but I thought that if I looked around town, I might be able to learn something. Like if anyone had seen him, or Namakelder or anything like that..."

"Now that you mention it, the Phantom Empire has attacked us since that day, have they?" Hime frowned a little, leaning back in her chair. "Well, that's well and good, but it kind of makes me nervous."

"I know what you mean." Yuko nodded her head, frowning a bit. "It feels like they're waiting for something."

"That's probably..." Megumi trailed off, her voice catching in her throat. Even if she had accepted the reality of the situation, it was difficult for her to say out loud.

"So it's really going to come to that." Yuko said, her eyes narrowing. Her hands curled into fists where they rested on her lap. Megumi didn't need to finish her sentence for them to understand where she was going with it- both Hime and Yuko already very well what was going to happen.

At some point, they wouldn't just be fighting against Hoshiiwa, Namakelder, and Oresky anymore. At some point, they most likely have to fight against Seiji.

Were they really prepared to do that?

"Megumi, I'm sorry." Yuko apologized for what must have been the twentieth time, looking over at her friend. "If only I had acted on my suspicions sooner. I should have known that there was something that was amiss back then."

"No, don't apologize." Megumi shook her head. "I keep telling you that over and over again, Yuyu. You shouldn't blame yourself. I also didn't want to admit that something was wrong."

"Me too." Hime said after a moment. "I was so happy to get so many friends after so long that thinking about losing one like this... I didn't want to admit it."

"See? If anything, we're all responsible for letting it come to this." Megumi admitted, smiling at her childhood friend. "So don't blame yourself, Yuyu. The only thing we can do from this point on is our best to bring Seiji back to us."

"But what if we have to fight him?" Hime asked, finally giving voice to their shared knowledge- something that hadn't been brought up since right after Seiji's disappearance.

Megumi closed her eyes for a long moment, taking in and letting out a deep breath, as if gathering up her resolve. "Then, we'll fight. If that's what we have to do in order to bring Seiji back home, then we'll fight me." She said- before her determined expression faded into a small smile. "Besides, if there's one thing I know about Seiji, it's that's he won't allow himself to be hurt that easily. I hate to admit it, but in terms of actual skill, he's probably better than us."

"Ah, now that you mention it..." Yuko frowned a little. "Sagara certainly does have quite a bit of skill in martial arts. And according to Blue, we have to be prepared that the Phantom Empire might have given him abilities like theirs."

"It's fine!" Megumi said, her bright smile finally reappearing properly on her face, as she got to her feet, and held out her hand. "We're the Happiness Charge Precure, after all! Together with the three of us, there's nothing that we can't do!"

"That's right." Yuko nodded her head, standing up and placing her hand on Megumi's. "No matter what, we'll bring Sagara home with us."

Hime hesitated for a moment, but upon seeing the resolve in her friends' eyes, she too, got to her feet, and placed her hand on theirs. "Yeah. We can do it! After all, Seiji is my important friend number two! I can't abandon him like that!"

The three girls smiled at each other brightly for the first time since Seiji had gone missing. "Well then!" Megumi grinned wider. "One the count of three!"

"One!" Yuko cried out.

"Two!" Hime chimed in.

"Three!" Megumi shouted.

"_Happiness Charge Precure!"_

* * *

"Cold..." Megumi Aino blearily found herself muttering as she gradually cracked her eyes open. Fighting the urge to sniffle, she blinked wearily, turning her head to the side, wondering exactly what time it was. "Two in the morning...?"

The magenta haired girl let out a loud groan, pushing herself up- and instantly regretted it, because she only got colder as the covers slipped off of her. A shiver ran through her body, and she quickly rubbed her arms, sniffling loudly. "Why is so cold? Did the air conditioner break or something?"

Pulling the covers over herself to form something of a shield, she got to her feet, a little worried about what this cold would do to her mother. Pausing to shake off the last bits of sleep from her, she headed towards the door, blanket trailing behind her. "Mom?" She called out, her voice in a slight whisper. If she wasn't already awake, she certainly didn't want to wake her up.

Stepping into the hallway, Megumi shivered again, this time sneezing a little. So it was cold in here too, not just her room... exactly what was going on?

As if following some kind of unconscious instinct, Megumi found herself heading towards the front window. Blinking a little, uncertain because of the dark light, she nonetheless frowned, leaning forward, her eyebrows knitting together. Was that...?

"Snow!?" Megumi blurted out, her eyes going wide, the warm blanket dropping from her shoulders. No wonder it was so cold!

But wait a minute- wasn't it summer!?

Snow in the middle of the summer... that could only mean one thing. Megumi's eyes narrowed, clenching her fists. And an attack in the middle of the night... it was just like those times, wasn't it?

Feeling something squeeze in her chest, Megumi ignored it, instead hurrying to her room. Grabbing her Cure Line, she quickly went about grabbing some warmer clothes, pausing to make sure she grabbed her transformation item as well. Pausing before she ran out the door, she quickly ran into the living room, scooped up her abandoned blanket, and carefully crept into her mother's room, making sure to safely tuck it over her without bothering her, before she hurried out the door.

Into what was more than just a little snowstorm.

Her Cure Line rang in her hand as she made her way carefully down the stairs, wondering if she should have dug out her winter coat after all. "Hello, Hime?"

"Megumi! Do you see the snowstorm outside!?" Came Hime's voice on the other end of the line.

"See it? I'm in it, right now!" Megumi couldn't help but laugh a little. "This is definitely the work of the Phantom Empire. Where is the source of it?"

"The park, according to Blue. I'm on my way too. Yuko already called me." Hime said, and Megumi could hear her sniffling on the other end of the line. "Megumi, do you think this is?"

"Most likely." Megumi nodded her head, gripping her phone tightly. The blinding snow made it hard for her to see, but she more or less knew where she was going. "Hime, are you really prepared?"

"I am." Hime said after a moment. "Besides, I'll have you and Yuko with me as well. I can do it. What about you, Megumi?"

"I'm fine." Megumi said, her voice filled with resolve- which was somewhat dampened by the sound of a sniffle afterwards. "We'll definitely bring him back, no matter what the Phantom Empire has done to him."

_Definitely_.


	5. Frost

Author's Note: The next chapter is here and the first part of the long awaited first confrontation is here! I'm excited! Super excited!

* * *

**Frost**

* * *

The howling snow was deafening in her ears as she made her way towards the park. It was all she could do to keep her teeth from chattering- or perhaps they were, and the sound of the storm was so loud it simply drowned the chattering sound out. Either way, she was feeling pretty numb, and pretty sorry for anyone who was stuck outside during this blizzard.

"Megumi!" Yuko's call somehow met her ears even in the howling storm, and she looked up, catching sight of her childhood friend.

"Yuuyuu!" Megumi called out, carefully making her way towards her, the two of them almost instinctively huddling together for warmth. "Some weather we're having, huh?"

"Tell me about it. I can barely see anything! How are we supposed to find the Saiark in all of this snow?" Yuko asked, sniffling a little. "Not to mention..."

"It'll be fine!" Megumi said quickly, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, giving her an encouraging smile. "We've already been over this. The three of us will safely return Seiji home, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. There's no way we can leave one of our friends in a bind like this." Yuko nodded her head, before spotting something off towards the distance. "Ah, Hime-chan!"

"Why are the two of you dressed like that in this kind of weather!?" Hime found herself asking, in spite of the serious situation. At least she had found the wisdom to bundle up (or rather, Blue had insisted that she bundle up before she even think about heading outside) and so even in the snowstorm, she found herself quite snug. "Do you want to catch a cold?"

"Sorry, Hime!" Megumi quickly apologized. "I kind of hurried out of the house as soon as I realized what was going on."

"Honestly, what am I going with you two." Hime huffed a little, placing her hands on her hips. Her expression faltered somewhat, and she found herself gazing deeper into the storm. "He's in there, isn't he?"

There was a note of almost guilt on her voice that Megumi and Yuko might have noticed, had it not been hard enough to hear her already.

"Yeah. There's no doubt." Megumi nodded her head, smiling over towards Hime, reaching out her hand towards her. "Let's go bring him home."

"Yeah." Hime nodded, taking Megumi's hand and gripping it tight.

"Mao-chan and his mother are waiting." Yuko said, taking Megumi's other hand and holding it tight. "Let's go, Megumi."

And with a deep breath, the three friends took a step deeper into the howling snowstorm.

* * *

"It's rare to see you looking so introspective." Namakelder noted rather dryly.

"It's not rare at all!" Hosshiwa replied rather sharply, turning to glower slightly at the man. "I was just thinking about something, that's all."

"It's not about sweets again, is it?" Namakelder made a small face- just the thought of the sugary treats churned his stomach. He really didn't have a taste for them, and didn't see what Hosshiwa found so appealing in them. He much preferred the damp smell of mold to the sugary stench of desserts.

"I can think about things other than sweets." Hosshiwa said simply. "What exactly do you take me for, Namakelder? Don't you have another nap to take?"

"A nap would be a charming idea... but no, I just finished one." He said simply, though he appeared to consider the idea for a moment. "Speaking of sleeping however, it would seem that he awakened, from the looks of things." Turning his attention towards one of the grand mirrors in the hall, which was focused on an image of Pikarigaoka, currently ensnared in a blizzard, Namakelder's lips tightened into a small frown. "I see. That's what you were dwelling on."

"It was quite the success, wasn't it? I'm looking forward to seeing their confrontation." Hosshiwa smiled to herself. "Ahhh, some sweets and tea would be lovely right now~. Choiarks, fetch me some right away."

"I believe I'll be joining you." Namakelder observed, watching the images flashing across the mirror intently. "I'm sure the results of the coming battle will be of great interest to Queen Mirage."

* * *

After being surrounded by blinding white for what felt like forever, the three friends could barely process it when the blinding snowstorm seemed to disappear, leaving their visibility clear as day. The chill had not yet gone from their bones, but the sharp edge the howling winds brought with it was now gone, providing them some measure of relief. It wasn't that the blizzard had suddenly stopped- but rather it seemed that here, in the center of it, the weather was much calmer.

The snow was almost gentle here, Megumi couldn't help but notice- but she didn't have long to dwell on it, because her gaze quickly fell on the Saiark that was the cause of all this unseasonable weather.

And what's more...

"_Seiji_!"

To her great surprise, it wasn't Megumi who had called out his name first. Instead she found herself shifting her gaze to her right, looking towards Hime. The blue haired girl still had a firm grip on Megumi's hand, but she had taken a step forward. She could feel the petite girl's hand tighten over her own.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Megumi took a deep breath, before she turned her gaze back towards where it was before. Even though she had been prepared for it, she could feel her heart squeeze tightly in pain as she finally laid eyes on the childhood friend who had been missing for the past five days- no, it would be six, now.

"Seiji."

The name almost came out as a whisper, and she stepped forward. Sharing a knowing look, Yuko and Hime gently released Megumi's hands, allowing her to advance. Of them all, she was the closest to him. It was only right.

Still, he heard her.

Or at least it seemed that way. His gaze turned in her direction, at least, but it was impossible to read any sort of emotion on it. It was like they had been completely frozen over- even the color had apparently changed, resembling the palest of icy blues. It was the same frozen color as the frost that was clinging to not only his favorite red hoodie, but also to the young boy himself, creeping around his eyes and his cheeks, and over his hands.

"Seiji!" Megumi repeated, her voice much louder this time. She took two steps forward, only to stop, as if something instinctively warned her to- a premonition of danger. Without a doubt, that was Seiji- but it was the Seiji she had grown up with. He would never be capable of looking that way at her.

What had the Phantom Empire done to him?

There wasn't any recognition in his eyes- or so she assumed. He looked right through her, as if this wasn't the girl that he had grown up with, the girl he constantly worried after and looked after, the childhood friend that he felt was his own sister.

He finally spoke, and Megumi wished that he hadn't said a word.

"Cure Lovely." Seiji's voice was just as icy as the frost that lightly coated his hoodie and cheeks. His gaze slid briefly towards Hime and Yuko, both who likewise flinched in spite of their best efforts not to. "And Princess and Honey. I see, you came after all."

"Of course!" Yuko was the first one to call out, taking a step forward. In truth, however, she already had a hand on her Kururin Mirror. She had a feeling that they wouldn't simply be able to talk sense into Seiji- whatever had been done to him ran too deep for just that. "We came to get our friend back!"

Her words hung in the air for a long moment, even the snow seemed to cease to fall in the seconds that followed it. It was as if the world itself had frozen for a moment, and nothing moved.

"There's no one like that here."

The words were like a punch to the gut, but none visibly felt it more than Megumi. He might as well have just attacked her, it would have probably caused less pain. "What are you talking about, Seiji? Don't you remember?" She called out, taking a step forward, in spite of the prickling on the back of her neck.

"We obviously mean you! Mao-chan and everyone is waiting! Please come home with me!" Reaching out, Megumi extended her hand towards him, a pleasing look in her eyes. "Please?"

Maybe his memories had just been erased, and all they would have to do was remind me of them. Otherwise there would have been no reason for him to look at her like that! Even though she thought she had been prepared for this, the reality of it was that this was much harder to take than she expected. She imagined Hime and Yuko felt the same way.

"Of course I remember." Seiji said simply, and Megumi could feel a chill seep into her heart that was more than just the result of the cold air. "But like I said, there's no one like your friend here."

"That can't..." Megumi stammered, her eyes going wide as she took a step back. "What are you saying, Seiji!?"

"Megumi." Yuko's sharp voice brought her focus back a bit, and she turned to glance back at her other childhood friend. Yuko simply shook her head, giving Megumi a rather sad, yet determined look. "We have to do it."

Closing her eyes again, Megumi took in and let out another deep breath, trying to bring up her will again. "Yeah. We have no choice, it seems." She said, once more locking gazes with Seiji, feeling her own hand tighten around her Kururin Mirror as she did so. Whatever was done with them, they would just have to undo it with the power of the Precure.

"Hime, are you okay?" She asked, glancing back towards her newer friend.

"Yes." Hime hesitated only for a moment, but she already had her own Kururin Mirror in hand. "Let's go."

"_Precure Kururin Mirror Change!"_

The burst of light that accompanied their transformation blasted back the falling snow, and in an instant, the Happiness Charge Precure stood at the ready. "Happiness Injection! Charging with Glee! Happiness Charge Precure!"

The expression in Seiji's frozen eyes didn't change, but instead he simply shifted his gaze, finally seeming to pay attention to the Saiark he had summoned, ordering to attack.

"Lovely!" Honey turned her attention briefly towards the pink Cure. "Princess and I will take care of this. Can you fight him?"

It was a serious question, and it took Lovely a moment to give her an answer. But in the end, she gave her a firm nod. "I can. Thanks. Be careful, you two."

"Don't worry!" Princess almost beamed, in spite of the situation. "We have your back, Lovely! Go and bring home our friend!"

"Yeah!" Lovely nodded her head. "Thank you." She repeated again, before she dashed forward. The Saiark attempted to intercept her, but instead it found itself being intercepted by Honey and Princess instead. "Come over here, Seiji! I want to talk properly with you!"

Wordlessly, Seiji heaved a sigh, before turning his attention towards her. He approached Lovely without much apparent interest, but she could tell that even with that, his guard was completely up. Come to think of it, Seiji was actually really amazing at karate, wasn't he? At least tough enough to properly fight Choiarks on his own without any powers. Would she really be okay?

Well, it was too late to start thinking about things like that.

Especially since that fist was already coming towards her face.

With a sharp cry, Lovely barely avoided the first blow- it was the follow up blow that she didn't manage to dodge, finding herself pretty much walking straight into the line of a considerably powerful kick. She wasn't sure if it was that, or slamming into a nearby tree that left her reeling, but either way, she was seeing stars.

Still, there was no way she would just bow out and give in after a simple blow like that. Grinning to herself, she pulled herself together, clenching her fists. "I really should have considered sparring against you for Precure training to begin with. I can't believe I didn't think of that until just now."

"That's normal for you." Seiji noted, the icy tone still present in his voice. "You never think at all."

"That might be true." Megumi admitted after a moment. "I can't exactly call that one a lie. But, I'm thinking properly right now. I'm thinking about bringing you home! I know that this isn't what you want, Seiji!"

"You sure assume a lot of things." He noted, the falling snow seeming to respond to some invisible command, growing harsher around them. It left Lovely shivering, but Seiji himself seemed to be completely unaffected. "I'm not interested in returning home, or going anywhere with you, Lovely."

"Don't say that, Seiji!" Lovely said, shifting on her feet, before she dashed forward, charging towards him as fast as her Precure abilities could make her go. "I'm bringing you home, one way or another!"

"You're not the one who gets to decide that." He said simply, avoiding her punch. She pivoted on her heel however, clenching her fist again.

"You're just not thinking clearly! But don't worry, whatever the Phantom Empire did to you, I'll break apart!" With a slightly fierce grin, Lovely touched her Love PreBrace. "_Lovely Punching Punch!_"

The giant fist of lowering pink energy formed at her beck and call, and fired towards Seiji in an instant. However, instead of meeting it's mark, a sudden icy wind kicked up, forcing the energy construct to dissipate- and forcing Lovely backwards.

However, Lovely didn't falter, her fire having been relit in her heart. She could hear Princess and Honey fighting against the Saiark in the background- and she was somewhat worried, since it seemed to be giving them a hard time. But if it was those two, they could definitely pull through. "This isn't enough to make me give up! I'll fight you to my last breath if I have to, in order to save you!"

"I see." Seiji said simply for a moment, almost seeming to frown- but the hint of expression quickly vanished back to where it had come from, leaving behind the blank expression again. "Then I suppose I should be more serious."

The twinkling stars Lovely saw next weren't simply the ones in her imagination, but rather the ones glittering in the sky. It took several seconds for the fact that she had apparently ended up flat on her back to really entirely dawn on her- and a few seconds after that for the pain to kick in.

_It hurt!_ She hadn't even seen what had happened, but it hurt like hell. The head was the worst part, she had apparently not landed on the soft, fluffy grass, but rather the cold, hard concrete of the walkway.

"You're still breathing. Well," With a flick of the wrist, the snow that had been falling gently around them suddenly froze, turning into sharp, icy chunks. "I suppose we can still fix that."


	6. A Bitter and Pointless Victory

Author's Note: I'm basically going to do a bunch of terrible, soul crushing things with this story because I am strong and powerful and nobody can stop me including me.

* * *

**A Bitter and Pointless Victory**

* * *

"You're still breathing. Well," With a flick of the wrist, the snow that had been falling gently around them suddenly froze, turning into sharp, icy chunks. "I suppose we can still fix that."

Lovely let out a sharp gasp of breath that was visible in the unseasonably chilly summer air, and quickly managed to spring back to her feet. "Lovely Shield!" She called out, making it in the nick of time, the icy chunks impacting against the heart shaped shield, but not harming her.

She felt something twist tightly in her heart, however. Seiji was completely serious about killing her! She knew that they would be fighting each other as enemies, but even so... this was hard to take!

But, it was all the more reason that she had to bring Seiji back to their side. There was no way that he would really want something like this! After all, the two of them were like family! To think that someone she thought of as her own brother would try and kill her... there was just no way that she could sit back and allow this to happen!

"You have pretty good reflexes." Seiji observed, eyes scanning Lovely's stance, looking for weakness in her guard. She stiffened up as a result, attempting to looked more guarded- but she knew it was a pointless endeavor, since when it came down to it, Seiji had far more experience fighting than she had. "Well, after having to put up with you all this time, it would be disappointing if I ended this all in an instant."

"Those aren't your true feelings!" Lovely shouted, narrowing her eyes. Gritting her teeth, she carefully watched the boy who was her childhood friend, trying to predict his next move, and determine if she should strike first. "That's no way that you would ever say something like that! You must realize that, Seiji!"

"My true feelings?" Seiji asked, arching an eyebrow, before heaving a deep sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm disappointed, Megumi. You never really realized it then? All of that time, you and Yuko were just dragging me around, without thinking about me at all. I never wanted to hang around with the two of you in the first place."

"That's not true!" Lovely shook her head. "Because, whenever I screwed something up, you were always the first one to tell me I was wrong! I always listened to what you had to say, Seiji!"

"Well, it doesn't really matter." Seiji said after a moment, closing his eyes. "All of this 'taking me back home' and 'bringing me back' you're going on with... you sound pretty sure of yourself."

"Of course!" Lovely couldn't help but beam. "If it's for my friends, then I can do anything! The Phantom Empire is just manipulating you, Seiji! You're not the kind of person who would do something like this!"

"Hmm." Seiji closed his eyes for a moment, before heaving a long sigh. "Well, too bad it won't happen." He remarked, before snapping his eyes open, and all but lunging at Lovely. She jumped backwards, barely able to evade the blow that was aimed squarely at her gut- and she couldn't keep the yelp from escaping her mouth as he grabbed on to one of her arms, and yanked her forward, delivering a powerful blow to her gut anyways with his knee.

She let out a gasp, feeling the air rushing from her lungs, unwillingly slumping in her stance- but not sinking to her knees, managing to stand upright. Of course, if she had taken a blow like that as Megumi Aino, it would be a different story, but right now, she was Cure Lovely, and she wouldn't go down that easily.

"After all, you haven't even been able to put a single scratch on me yet. You're not even fighting seriously." Seiji observed, almost sounding disappointed. "Not interesting, not interesting, Megumi! I expected better from you at this, at least. After all, you're the one who's always prattling on and on about how excited she is to be a Precure. Do you have any idea how many times you've kept me up at night getting excited about the same things over and over again?"

Lovely startled at this, and she looked up at him in shock, unwillingly locking her eyes with those expressionless, icy blue ones. They really held no signs of life in them at all- nothing like the usual gentle brown ones. "I-is that so?" She managed to gasp out, her voice cracking a little. "I'm sorry, Seiji. I didn't realize it annoyed you."

"There's all sorts of things you don't realize, Megumi." He said, breaking their locked gaze and turning towards the fight that Princess and Honey were having with his Saiark. In particular, his gaze landed on Princess, who was in the middle of performing a somewhat unsuccessful Princess Ball. "Haven't you ever wondered how Axia was opened in the first place?"

"Eh?" Lovely blinked, unable to help but follow Seiji's gaze, before frowning a little, looking back towards him- only to realize that looking away was a mistake. The next thing she knew, she found a kick impacting with her side, and found herself being flung across the snowy park like some kind of rag doll. She impacted with something- at first she couldn't tell what- but once she saw the worried faces of Princess and Honey rushing towards her, she realized it must have been the Saiark.

Coughing a little, Lovely stood up, quickly putting some distance between herself and the Saiark before it could recover. "I'm fine, don't worry." She told them, smiling at the both of them- but she wasn't entirely telling the truth. There was a throbbing in her side, and it didn't seem like she was taking hits today as well as she usually did.

"You don't look fine!" Princess protested over her, rushing to her side and carefully putting her hands on her shoulders. "I knew we shouldn't have left you alone after all!"

"More importantly, we have to do something about this Saiark. The blizzard won't end until we deal with it." Lovely said, giving Princess a reassuring smile- even as she watched Seiji approach them out of the corner of her eyes. He wasn't in any hurry, so he apparently didn't regard the three of them as anymore threat than just one of her.

For some reason, that kind of pissed her off.

"She's right." Honey stepped up by her side, casting Lovely a concerned look. "We can't let Pikarigaoka be buried underneath a mountain of snow. My Sparkling Baton Attack should be enough, we just need an opening first. It's guard is pretty tight. And..." She glanced off towards the side, her gaze falling upon Seiji. He seemed to have stopped approaching for the moment, as if curious to see how the battle was turning out- maybe he was assessing the Saiark's strength.

But at any rate, it didn't seem like he would interfere with them, so now was their best chance. Honey turned her attention back to Lovely and Princess, feeling her hands clutching tighter to her Honey Baton than usual. She honestly couldn't bear looking at him like that. It was more painful than she expected it to be, and was sure that Megumi and Hime felt the same way.

"Nevermind. We should do this now." Honey said, her tone of voice giving away nothing of her swirling thoughts.

"Yeah." Lovely nodded her head, digging up a second wind from deep within herself. "Princess, let's do this!"

"Okay." Princess nodded her head, pulling out her PreChan Mirror without even needing to ask what should be done. "If it wants to make everything cold, then I'll give it a taste of it's own medicine!"

Using the PreChan Mirror to change into her Sherbet Ballet form, Princess tapped on her Love Prebrace. "_Precure Blizzard En Tournant!"_

With her cry of the attack name, a fresh stream of ice shot forth, but this time under the blue Precure's control. The Saiark let out a cry, finding it's feet frozen solidly to the ground. "Okay, Lovely, it's your turn now!"

"Okay, Princess!" In spite of everything, Lovely found herself responding to her friend with a slight grin- though not really one that was as bright as it usually was. Stepping forward, she clenched her fists- it hadn't worked earlier, but she would just have to make it stronger then!

_"Lovely Punching Punch!_" She cried out, a pink fist of energy appearing around her wrist, before she punched it towards the Saiark. It knocked the massive monster off of it's feet, cracking the ice loudly as it did so, leaving it dazed for a moment. "Honey, it's your turn!"

"Okay!" Honey nodded, readying her Honey Baton. "Light of life, become the holy power!" She called out. "_Precure Sparkling Baton Attack!_ Life, return to the heavens!"

With a resounding crash and bright burst of golden light, the Saiark vanished from sight as if it had never been there- and with it, the howling blizzard died down, leaving the once cold air to slowly begin to warm up again.

With it feeling more like early summer, the three girls turned to face the much bigger problem- their friend.

"That's all it had?" Seiji asked, looking rather disappointed- or it seemed, his blank eyes made it difficult to read his exact expression. "Like I thought, normal Saiarks are pretty weak. I can't believe those other three are satisfied with this level time after time. No wonder they haven't been able to defeat even one Precure yet."

"Seiji!" Lovely called out, taking a step forward- however, it was his own words that caused her to freeze in place, and she almost felt her heart drop from her chest, a horrible feeling swelling within it.

"And I thought for sure using her would work better than usual. I guess if they're already living in their bad future, it doesn't really affect the strength all that much." He said. "Seriously, I'm really disappointed in mom, I expected something better from her."

"M... om?" The color drained from Lovely's face, as she slowly turned her heard towards the direction where the person who had created the Saiark had been trapped in their mirror. She had honestly been so focused on Seiji that she hadn't really given any thought to who it was that had been turned into a Saiark- she just kind of naturally assumed no one she knew would be out at this time of night.

It was like she had been punched in the gut again, because Megumi all at once felt the energy leaving from her body- and Megumi was the right name, for she felt her transformation slipping away from her, as her eyes fell on the collapsed person in question.

He had really used his own mother to make a Saiark. What's more, to be out at this time of night... there was no way that it was just a coincidence he had stumbled across her.

He had called his mother out here for the sole purpose of turning her into a monster.

"Something like that..." Megumi trailed off, unable to wrench her gaze away from Hiroko's prone form. "How could you do that? She's your mother! I don't care what you had to say about me, but your mother you should at least...!"

"At least what?" Seiji asked, a cold, emotionless expression overtaking his face. His eyes, cold as ice, fell on the three girls, even as Honey and Princess protectively stepped forward in front of the shaken Megumi. "Something like the bonds of family is pointless anyways."

"It's not pointless!" Princess' loud voice startled both Megumi and Honey- and it was enough to snap Megumi somewhat out of it, it seemed. She managed to get back to her feet at any rate, though she hadn't even remembered sinking to her knees. "After all, your mother has been worried about you all this time! She's been looking everywhere for you!"

"Of course I know that, Hime." Seiji said simply, folding his arms in front of his chest. "That's why I used her. I thought that something useful would come out of it... but well, the results were pretty disappointing. I guess she gave the two of you a hard time, but it's not good if the Saiark can't properly fight against all three of you. There's also Fortune to deal with, too."

"Sagara!" Honey took a step forward, her grip tight on her Honey Baton. "Are you even listening to what you're saying!?"

"Of course, Omori." He said, quirking a brow. "My mind's perfectly clear, after all."

"It's not clear at all!" Megumi cried out, narrowing her eyes. "Exactly what did they do to you, Seiji?" She asked, the audible pain in her voice causing both Honey and Princess to clench their fists tightly in frustration. None of them could stand this at all! What was worse was that none of their words were seeming to get through to him, even a little.

Was the Seiji that they knew really no longer around?

No, they couldn't think like that!

"Well, someone like you would never understand, Megumi." Seiji said simply, brushing aside her question. "I suppose I'll just have to pick someone better the next time we meet. Don't killed by any of the other generals, in the meantime, okay? It won't be any good unless I defeat you three by myself."

And although all three of them tried to quickly close the gap between them, it was already too late, and he had slipped from their grasp again. For a moment, the three friends stood in complete silence.

They had been so determined going into this, so sure that they were ready for what they would face- but it turned that they weren't ready in the least. They had defeated the Saiark, true enough... but somehow they felt like they had lost.

It seemed like returning Seiji to normal would be much harder than they expected.

Finally, it was Yuko who spoke, having returned to normal. "We should look after Sagara-san." She said softly, looking towards Hiroko. Thankfully, she was still unconscious. She could only imagine the kind of pain that was in her heart right now- they had freed her from her mirror, but she was already surely living in her bad future.

After all, her son had become a servant of the Phantom Empire.

And if it caused Yuko this much pain, then she could only imagine how much it hurt his mother.


	7. The Perspective of a Mother

Author's Note: The next chapter is here! I'm very excited about bringing this story to you all, especially since after this chapter, everything swings into gear! Please feel free to leave a review with any thoughts or feelings you might have, as well as any questions! I'll answer anything!

* * *

**May Your Future Be Terrible**

_The Perspective of a Mother_

* * *

She hadn't been sleeping well lately.

How could she, when her only son was missing? It had been over a week now, and there was no word from him, and no trace of him anywhere. It was almost like he had simply vanished off the face of the Earth.

Hiroko Sagara had been fixing herself a cup of hot tea at the time of the phone call, hoping that it would help her fall asleep. The cup was warm in her hands, as she blew lightly on it, trying to cool it down a little so she wouldn't burn her tongue.

A memory rose, unbidden, in her mind then. That's right, Seiji would often make tea for her. No wonder she had trouble for a moment finding where it was stored, most of the time, it was her son who kindly prepared it for her. As the aroma of the tea danced around her nose, she found her grip on the cup tightening.

"Where are you, Seiji?" She whispered, not wanting to wake up Mao. The girl had been in daze since her older brother vanished, and Hiroko couldn't blame her. Seiji's disappearance was troubling enough, but then there was the behavior he had displayed right before he vanished- and that didn't help her worries as a mother. It wasn't like her son to be violent or temperamental, it wasn't like him to sneak out in the middle of the night- at least not when Megumi wasn't involved somehow.

Seiji was kind, reliable, and a good kid. Someone that everyone admired and looked up to. A loving brother, a caring son, and a reliable friend. He made Hiroko so happy.

Taking a deep gulp of her tea, and setting the cup down, Hiroko let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes for a moment. So absorbed was she in her thoughts, that she didn't hear her phone vibrate at first- and when she did, even though she quickly scrambled to answer it, she ended up missing the call.

As she glanced down at the caller ID, her heart leapt a little. A unknown caller. True, it could be nothing- but at this time of night, when her son was missing? She almost yelped when it buzzed in her hands again, indicating that there was a new text message.

It only read 'the park'.

Hiroko knew.

She had never moved that fast in her entire life, she was almost certain of that. One second she was sitting at the table, and the next she was at the entrance way, pulling on her shoes and grabbing her keys. She kept quiet, so as not to wake Mao, and made sure that the door was safely locked behind her.

And then she ran.

She could have driven. She did own a car, after all. But the thought hadn't entered into her mind at all.

So she ran.

By the time she reached the park, she was completely out of breath. She paused, only for one moment, to catch it, before she looked around, her heart pounding heavily in her chest, filling her ears with the sound.

And then she saw him.

And she knew.

A mother always knows.

In the dead of night, Hiroko Sagara let out a painful sound.

Her son's deadfaced expression changed to a smile.

* * *

"Are you alright?"

It was a warm hand on her shoulder that roused the woman to awareness. As her vision adjusted, her eyes fell on the young girl before her- a girl with honey blonde hair, wearing a black vest and a orange hair bow. For a moment, Hiroko wondered what this young girl was doing out at this time of night- before she realized.

Before she remembered.

That's right, this girl was a Precure. And if there was a Precure here, then...

"No." Hiroko answered perfectly honestly, her voice feeling hollow. "I'm not."

The young girl, Cure Honey, she recalled, seemed to understand. Her face was familiar, now that she thought about it, but she was too distracted to even wonder why. How could she not be? After all, her son was... Seiji was...

"How could this happen?" Hiroko asked, placing a hand over her face, unable to look the Precure in their eyes. After all, how could she? A Precure's mission, it seemed, was to fight against the Phantom Empire, and her son, her only son...

She couldn't believe it. It seemed like a lie, a horrible dream. But Hiroko knew it was the truth. She couldn't deny it, she didn't allow herself to.

Her son had joined the Phantom Empire.

Honey wondered what she should say at a time like this. After talking it over, they had determined that Princess would help bring Megumi home, and she would stay behind to talk things over with Hiroko. Megumi wanted to do it herself- but she wasn't exactly in the state to do so. Princess seemed to want to help... but she still wasn't good with strangers yet, and in a situation like this... There was no way she could handle it.

So Yuko had transformed again, and waited until Princess and Megumi were out of sight to rouse Seiji's mother.

She wasn't sure how much she could tell her- after all, in honesty, Honey wasn't sure how much she herself actually knew about what was going on. But, there was one thing she knew that she needed to convey.

"It isn't like that."

Hiroko looked up at the yellow Precure's words, watching as the young girl took her hand in her own, helping the grown woman to her feet. She looked at her with great kindness, more kindness than Hiroko thought she deserved at the moment. After all, if Seiji had really betrayed everyone like this... the only person she could blame was herself. Somewhere along the line, she had failed as a mother.

"It isn't like that." Honey repeated again, shaking her head. "I have a rough idea of your relationship. I do watch the local news, after all." She said. "You should know it too, right? Your son isn't the sort of person to do this on his own will."

The words struck Hiroko like a pile of bricks. That's right. That was true. There really was no way, was there? After all, Seiji was kind, reliable, and a good kid. There was no way that he would betray everyone in Pikarigaoka by joining the Phantom Empire.

"He's not...?" Hiroko began, but her voice faltered.

"I'm sure that he's just being used." Honey reassured her. "I don't exactly why your son was chosen-"

"It's my fault!"

It was difficult to say which of them was more startled- Cure Honey or Hiroko. But both turned to look towards the direction of the interjecting voice- and Honey couldn't help but pale a little when she realized it was Megumi. Hime was behind her, obviously a bit out of breath. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened- Megumi's feelings of guilt and responsibility had obviously gotten the better of her, and she had obviously come sprinting back without any warning.

"Megumi-chan?" Hiroko blinked. "Why are you here? You should be in bed at this hour. Your mother will be worried! And what do you mean this is your fault? It couldn't possibly be-"

"It is!" Megumi insisted again, closing the distance between them. And then she bowed in apology to the older woman, her hands placed over her knees. "It's my fault that Seiji is being used for the Phantom Empire! No one else is to blame!"

The words rang in the air, and both Honey and Hime alike were well aware that her last sentence was directed at the two of them. The two of them exchanged looks, uncertain what to do here- after all, Blue had made them promise not to tell anyone about being Precure. But this situation...

It was probably an exception.

Hiroko could only stare at the young girl who she knew so well. She had always been Seiji's best friend, for as long as she could remember. Although she caused her son more than his fair share of troubles, he had never complained about it- and Megumi had always been there when he needed someone. She had been there when the entire Sagara family had gotten sick at the same time, she had been there when Hiroko had gotten entangled in traffic and couldn't make it home on time, she had been there during the troublesome that was Seiji's entrance into middle school, and the messy affair that turned out to be.

She had always been there by his side, supporting him in her own way, in everything. When he was filled with doubts and worries that even Hiroko herself didn't really know how to respond properly to, Megumi was there.

And in spite of everything, in spite of the intense pain in her heart, in spite of her worries and her fears- Hiroko smiled gently at the younger girl, putting her hands on her shoulders. "There's no way it could be your fault, Megumi-chan."

"It is." Megumi said, finally looking up at Hiroko. The older woman quickly noted her eyes were red- she had definitely been crying. "Because I'm a Precure."

The words hung there for only a moment- before Hiroko simply embraced the young girl tightly. "I see." She said simply, holding the girl she felt was a second daughter close to her. She didn't have any reason to believe that Megumi was lying- she was terrible at that, after all. But, what's more, she remembered what the mission of a Precure was.

To fight the Phantom Empire.

"You've had to go through something painful just right now, haven't you?" Hiroko said softly. "It's alright, Megumi-chan. I don't blame you. It's not your fault. You don't have shoulder that kind of burden."

Megumi opened her mouth again to protest, to insist again that it was her fault- but the only thing that came out was a strangled sob. She honestly wasn't the sort of person who was usually given over crying- but they came anyways, apparently not paying attention to that sort of thing. Her sobs racked her body, filling up her being as she cried into the arms of best friend's mother, a woman that she felt was something like an aunt to her. She felt Honey and Hime crowd around her, only dimly aware that they had reached out to touch her shoulders.

There was no sense of time when you were lost in your own tears like this. But finally, Megumi let out a last sniffle, returning to reality. The first sensation she felt was heat- with three people crowding around her and the warm weather restored, she realized that the warm jacket she had put on to fight off the blizzard was sweltering.

"I'm hot." Megumi admitted after a moment, wiping lingering tears from her eyes.

"Well that's because you're wearing that thick jacket!" Hime chimed in, giving her some space. "It's summer after all."

"That's true." Megumi said, taking a step back. Hiroko pulled her arms away from her, letting the magenta haired girl shrug off her jacket, folding it over her arms. Relief from the heat came almost at once, for which she was grateful.

She felt better now, too. Maybe not like she could face down Seiji again right away- but now that the tears had come and gone, she was sure that her determination would come back. She still wasn't convinced that this wasn't her fault- but at the same time, she knew that if it was, it was her responsibility to see this through, to bring Seiji back home no matter what.

"Megumi-chan." Hiroko spoke up again, smiling softly at her son's best friend. She spared a glance over towards Cure Honey, quickly coming to the conclusion that her familiarity was due to her being her son's other best friend, Yuko. She wasn't really familiar with the blue haired girl... but that was probably Hime.

Seiji had told Hiroko much about his new friend.

"I don't blame you." Hiroko said softly. "Rather, I'm worried about you. I'm going to assume Kaori knows nothing." She could only shake her head a little as all three girls flinched. "I won't say anything. But..." The older woman closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, before opening them again.

"Are you going to fight?"

There was resolve in Megumi's eyes this time- rock solid. Sure she didn't doubt that she would be hurt by any further words Seiji had for her in the future- but in the future, she wouldn't falter.

"I am. I'll bring Seiji home." Megumi said, pounding her chest. "Please just leave everything to me!"


End file.
